Date: Fri 20-Oct-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: CAROLK

Illustration: I

Quick Words:

Aitcheson-Feature-NTA

Full Text:

B Y D ARLENE J ACKSON

Those of us active in the Newtown Tennis Association have been pleased for the

last couple of years to work with Alex Aitchison and his wife, Marjorie, as

our President and First Lady. We have alluded to their extraordinary

background in the game filled with friendships and exposure to many of the

tennis greats of our life times, but we have not ever done an in depth

interview that kind of ties it all together, expands on their incredible

experiences, and on Newtown's good fortune to have them among us still

promoting the sport. It will be my intent in future weeks to attempt to give

you a glimpse of these two talented, devoted people who came to Newtown to

retire and wound up giving us all the benefit of their experience, devotion to

tennis, and friendship.

Alex was born in Melbourne, Australia, on February 7, 1931. His father, who

was born in Scotland and immigrated to Australia as a young man, died when

Alex was two years old. His mother's family moved to Australia from

Switzerland in the 1850's at about the same time that Marjorie's farther's

family came from Scotland. Her mother's ancestry is English, Scots, Irish, and

Welsh. Alex's older brother, George, was a part time teaching/tennis

professional, so Alex started playing tennis when he was 9 years old, earning

court time by doing chores at his brother's club. There was no Junior Program

at that time in Australia. Youngsters could only compete in the 18 and under

or 15 and under categories. Alex was among those that were challenged by this

system, so entered competition at age 13.

When he was 15 his mother remarried and moved to the country. Alex stayed in

the city with his aunt and completed his high school work. He continued to

play competitive tennis on weekends.

He graduated from high school at 17 and was on his own ever after. First, he

worked as an optical mechanic making sun glasses and eventually prescription

spectacles. Still he played tennis. He did a stint in retail furniture and in

driving a private for-hire car. He worked 5 pm til dawn, made lots of money,

and dealt with some pretty shady characters.

One regular customer from Sydney liked the horse races. " I'd wait to pick him

up at the Melbourne Airport, drive him to the race course, then take him back.

He bet 10 pounds of his money in my name each week. If the horse won, I got

the purse. It it lost, I paid nothing. I came out quite well, " Alex says.

Another time he was told to go up and down the streets and stop at a vacant

lot. " My passenger ran into a house and told me to be there when he came out.

He pulled out a sawed off shotgun. As soon as he disappeared, I hunched down

in my seat and gunned the car out of there as fast as I could.

" On a similar occasion, I was to drive to Frankston (an outer suburb) and I

was directed to drive past an electrical shop and then pull up about 50 feet

on the opposite side of the street. " Don't move, " I was told as a gun was

pressed into the back of my neck. I was obviously supposed to wait for my

passenger to do whatever he planned to do and then be there to drive him away.

Again, I slithered down and took off at the first opportunity. "

None too soon after these incidents, Alex was offered a job with Dunlop

selling footware. The year was 1951. Still he was involved in weekend tennis

tournaments playing on every surface imaginable, including blacktop seared by

the Australian sun that made shoes sink and stick like the dinosaurs at La

Brea tarpits. Also he played on grass, En-To-Cous (red crushed brick), and

surfaces made of ant bed sand. Alex explains that in Australia there are ant

hills of enormous height. The material from these hills is sometimes used to

surface tennis courts.

Alex went to school at night between 1951 and 1955 and graduated in public

relations and marketing from Melbourne University. It didn't take Dunlop long

to put him in the Sporting Goods Division as a sales representative. Then,

after a short time in the office, he became the manager's assistant and then

Promotion Manager for all sports. He played all the sports himself and

hobnobbed with the champions of the day - Australian Golfer Peter Thompson,

Arnold Palmer, and Jack Nicklaus; Table Tennis World Champions Karol and Susie

Javor; World Squash Champ Geoff Hunt and Roshan Khan and family; English Lawn

Bowling Champ Alex Eames; cricket and badminton players. Whatever Dunlop made,

Alex played and promoted.

In 1956 Alex was organizing weekend and mid-week tournaments - some of which

had former and potential Davis Cup players competing. One particular event had

teams of two women and two men who played Grade A matches of one men's doubles

match, one women's doubles match, and two mixed doubles matches. They played

9-game pro sets that didn't begin until 8 pm.

Though there was seldom rain in that location, there was lots of fog. On one

occasion Alex's partner, who was a flight attendant, was grounded in Brisbane,

so Alex had to find a new partner. The partner had to be good, available, and

eligible by the rules of the Lawn Tennis Association of Victoria to play.

Alex had nearly given up finding that person, when he finally tried the last

potential partner on his list. He had avoided that call because he disliked

Marjorie Houston as much as she disliked him, though he was a friend of her

brother and her current beau. She said yes.

Marjorie had started playing tennis at 12 on the public courts and had taken

some Saturday morning clinics at the local park. She played more in high

school, but claims to have been terrible until she was 25 or so, when she

began to play more and improve.

She and Alex lost their match and Alex, who says " winning was everything in

those days " was sure their team would lose. Marjorie claimed they would win,

so they wagered. Whoever lost the bet would take the other out for a night.

Alex lost the bet. He couldn't get ballet or opera tickets as Marj had

requested, so they wound up going to a movie, " Rains of Ranchipur " (sp?).

They loved the movie, but must have been under a spell, because all their

friends who subsequently saw the movie, hated it. They went together from then

on, became engaged for two years, and were married in 1959.

They played several years of successful mixed doubles until their children

were born in 1961, 1963, and 1965 - all boys. The eldest, Perry Scott, went to

Syracuse University (Where there was no men's tennis team) after turning down

a tennis scholarship offer to Cornell. He still plays and competes in national

tournaments for the 30's and over where he usually makes it to the quarter or

semi finals. He is in charge of the Tennis Development program at Point Set

Club in Oceanside, Long Island, and is a U.S.T.A. player development coach.

The Aitchisons, up until Alex's generation, had a custom of naming their

first-born sons, George Scott, and the second, Alexander Black, but " Perry "

came from Marj's family tree. The Scott followed tradition.

Grant Stuart, the Aitchinsons second son, was a Junior Tennis Champ at 15 and

was first in the East in the 21's and under. He went to the University of

Akron on an academic and tennis scholarship, but he left school in this third

year to start his own contracting business on Long Island. He makes custom

furniture, refurbishes offices and homes, and plays tennis only socially now.

Scott Andrew, the youngest, started school on a tennis scholarship at Anderson

College in South Carolina, but after a car accident moved to Oneonta, N.Y. and

went to college there. Now he works for Grant. He is married, but has no

children. He also plays only social tennis now.

But wait, I am getting ahead of myself. Alex worked for Dunlop Australia

Limited from 1951 until 1966 when he went to work as General Manager of The

Lawn Tennis Association of Victoria in Melbourne. He had a dual position as

General Manager of the Club and Executive Director of Tennis. The club was a

4,000-member organization that included catering, racquet sports, social

activities, etc. The association administered the game for more than 300,000

players. Soon after he began, the then General Manager of the Davis Cup

program left without giving notice, the pile of paper work, budgets, training

programs, public relations and endless meetings became his job as well. He was

also responsible for the Australian Open Tennis Championships, and other

special events at the Association's stadium, at Kooyong (aborigine for the

haunt of the wild fowl). Other events included the Harlem Globetrotters, Ice

Capades, Outdoor Opera, World Championship Boxing, and the Davis Cup that was

hosting Australia v. India. This all happened before Harry Hopman became

president, but he was already involved.

Alex, who defines himself as " a bit volatile in those days " was working 90

hours a week finalizing contracts, doing marketing, ticket sales, and managing

stadium operations along with countless meetings. He was also still competing

and making it to club finals five years in a row. Two he won, three he lost,

the last to a younger player. He competed in the Victoriam pennant match

system, the state's premier inter-club competition. There were 600 teams

playing every weekend in Melbourne alone in this competition.

In 1966 Alex was diagnosed with diabetes and 1968 he suffered a heart attack.

He was off work for three months. He was 38 pounds heavier than he is today,

was a heavy smoker, and social drinker. In 1986 his oral medication was taken

off the market and since that time he gives himself insulin shots twice a day,

exercises regularly, watches his diet, and controls his work hours.

" Marj has always had tennis in perspective, but I really didn't at that

point. My kids hardly knew me, " Alex claims. Life was to change again in 1973

with another jolt coming in 1985, but that's material for another column. Stay

tuned.

. . . to be continued.